Dream home reduced to ashes

Sitting in a medical clinic on a sunny Santa Barbara morning, waiting for a doctor to refill his prescriptions, is not how James Patterson wanted to spend his Friday. Mr. Patterson, 76, a retired real estate agent, said he was home alone when he spotted the fire. “When it first started, I looked right out our breakfast nook . . . and I could see the fire over by Westmont,” about 2 1/2 miles to the east, said Mr. Patterson. more